Expectation isn't weighing on the mind of American gun Jarmere Jenkins as he chases the $15,000 winner's cheque at the Australian Futures tennis tournament in Wollongong.

Jenkins has been lumped with the No 1 seed for this week's F9 event but has so far lived up to the ranking.

He beat Australian hope Christopher O'Connell in round one when the latter was forced to retire from the match, then beat Darren Polkinghorne 6-3 6-4 in round two to book his spot in the finals.

Jenkins proceeded to roll Gavin van Peperzeel 6-4 6-4 in the quarters on Friday and is now set to take on Brydan Klein in the semi-final on Saturday.

While entering the tournament with the number one next to your name may seem daunting, Jenkins hasn't paid much attention to the seedings.

"There's always pressure," Jenkins said.

"But there's pressure on everyone in the semi-final and final.

"You're always trying to get to the final or you want to win the tournament, so maybe there's a bit more pressure being the [number] one seed but all these guys are really good so it doesn't really matter."

Jenkins looked comfortable on court on Friday as he outgunned van Peperzeel to win the quarter-final in straight sets.

His opponent struggled to return serve as Jenkins ripped them down both sides of the court.

The American traveller later admitted his serving was a key focus point heading into the tournament at Beaton Park.

"Couple of months ago the serve was letting me down percentage-wise," he said.

"Being able to get free points off it, it's come a long way and I'm actually about to go work on it some more.

"I'm always trying to make it better."

Jenkins is one of the hottest properties on the ATP Tour after just one year on the circuit.

Having grown up in a tennis-mad family, he was soon recognised for his natural talent and competed in the Junior US Open, Junior French Open and Junior Wimbledon.

He ranked as high as 18 in the world junior system and continued his success throughout a four-year college degree.

Since joining the ATP circuit he has pocketed close to $87,000 in prize money and currently sits at 216 on the rankings list.

"My goal this year was to finish top 200 and I'm about 15 or so spots from there," Jenkins said.

"Then next year I want to try to work my way into the top 100."

Jenkins will remain in Wollongong for next week's F10 tournament before heading back to the US.

In Saturday's other semi-final, Andrew Whittington will take on Maverick Banes for a spot in Sunday's decider.